26 September 2015

From Uffizi to Gilli

But first, let me take a family selfie - Dad was surprisingly cooperative. Now that back-to-uni chaos is finally settling down, I am back on blog! I apologise for my absence, but this coming week is all about Finding Florence - vi prometto molta belleza. Well, as much beauty as an iPhone camera can captures...

YOU, ME AND THE UFFIZI

I developed two obsessions this holiday. Ceilings and panoramas of ceilings. There was a bit of a Pano competition going on between the Harrison family; I like to think I improved as time went on! I simply love galleries that are like art in themselves, and the Uffizi fits this brief perfectly. Dare I say I appreciated the building more than the actual art?

We played "guess the story" here - I just wanted someone to address the escaped rhino! (top right)

The painting everyone wants to see is Botticelli's The Birth of Venus- it's the Mona Lisa of the Uffizi. Nonetheless, like dear old Mona expectation exceeds the end result. I do like both Da Vinci and Botticelli, but compared to other paintings beside them both lack depth - for me anyway! My personal favourite was…

Only joking. Although, by this point, my feet were so tired that "red bed"came close to the top… As for the statues, I just wanted Prof. McGonagall/ Quasimodo to come along and bring them to life. Nonetheless, my actual favourite came at the close:

By 17th Century Dutch painter Gerard van Honthorst, I adored how the lighting fell onto the faces. The simplicity of the scene and depth of facial expressions - especially on the old man - were stunning.

For an artist nicknamed "Gerard of the night" - based on his skill with artificially lit scenes - it seemed quite ironic that the painting wasn't given a greater spotlight; it was buried away in a dimly lit room at the end.

The photo in the left was taken from our hotel: a perspective of how central we were!

The outside terrace/cafe of the Uffizi is right next to the Palazzo Vecchio; it isworth a stop even if you don't want any refreshments! This is unlikely though - even their diet coke cans were suitably artsy.

Forget rooms - this is a gallery with with a view. The Ponte Vecchio bridge no less!

TEA AT GILLI

Prior warning - this isn't the last you will hear of Gilli! Nearly every Harrison holiday features a go-to place and this trip it was Gilli. Not going to lie, part of the appeal was that it shared the name of a Game of Thrones character, but I also happened to see the teapots when walking past...

Need I say more? They clearly knew I was coming, complete with a sorbet and a blogger flatlay.

Seeing Mary, Burt, Michael and Jane on the carousel would have completed the scene, but I wasn't complaining. From the Uffizi to tea at Gilli, our Saturday was was practically perfect in every way. Now onto the important questions…